Once again, Catalan universities have a majority presence within the top ten of the best Spanish campuses in the ranking carried out annually by the CYD Foundation, which this year reaches its 13th edition. Thus, up to seven centers appear on that list: the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) – which shares second place along with Carlos III of Madrid -, Pompeu Fabra (3rd position), Ramon Llull (5th), Internacional de Catalunya (6th), Universitat de Barcelona (7th), Politècnica de Catalunya (8th) and Rovira i Virgili (10th). Compared to the previous year, two Catalan universities – Internacional de Catalunya and Politècnica – have joined this top ten, raising the total number from 5 to 7.
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It is true, however, that in this edition and for the first time, the University of Navarra (privately owned) tops the ranking, something remarkable considering that the UAB had held that privileged position uninterruptedly since 2017. The University of Navarra had closely followed it since 2022 and until 2025, reaching second place in all those editions. However, it had not managed to surpass it until now, despite both universities (also Carlos III) recording almost a technical tie in their overall results.
In this regard, Alejandra Suárez, a member of the technical office of the CYD Foundation, downplayed the change in positions between the UAB and the University of Navarra during the presentation of the ranking, indicating that this modification could be due to “minimal variations” and stating that the most important thing is to be in the top positions on the list, regardless of the exact place.
The report analyzes 84 universities, 31 fields of knowledge, and 3,909 degrees. The participating universities represent 87.5% of the active ones offering undergraduate studies included in the RUCT (Register of Universities, Centers, and Degrees). Of these, 48 are public (which represents 100% of representativeness) and 36 are private (representing 75% of the total).
One of the distinctive values of the ranking is that it analyzes the information provided by the universities”
Alejandra Suárez
Technician of the CYD Foundation
“One of the distinctive values of the ranking is that it analyzes the information provided directly by the universities through three questionnaires, whose data it collects on a web platform with quality control and review,” Suárez highlighted.
To analyze them globally, the study takes into account 36 indicators grouped into different dimensions, such as teaching and learning, research, knowledge transfer, internationalization, contribution to regional development, or labor market insertion.
Fields of knowledge
In several of these dimensions, Catalan universities are at the forefront. This is the case in knowledge transfer, where UAB and Rovira Virgili share the privileged position with Carlos III, Autónoma de Madrid, and Politécnica de Madrid. UAB is also the highest scored in international orientation, along with, again, Carlos III, the University of Navarra, and Ramon Llull. And leading contribution to regional development is Rovira i Virgili, alongside Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (University of the Basque Country).
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This year’s ranking also analyzes the results of 9 fields of knowledge – Business Administration, Economics, Political Science, Law, Sociology, History, Education, Journalism and Communication, and Earth Sciences/Geology – and incorporates a new one: Environmental Sciences and Engineering.
In eight of these ten fields, a Catalan university is at the forefront. Pompeu Fabra stands out especially, leading Political Science, Law, Economics, and Sociology. Politècnica leads in Earth Sciences/Geology and Environmental Sciences and Engineering; Internacional de Catalunya in Education; and UAB in History.
The autonomous communities with the highest number of top-performing indicators are, in order, Navarra, Catalunya, and the Basque Country.
The information analyzed by the study also reveals the most demanded degrees in Social Sciences: Political Science (with 1.8 applications per place in public universities), Journalism and Communication (1.77), and Sociology (1.75). Conversely, in Earth Sciences/Geology (0.79) and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (0.81), not all offered places are filled.
The data also allow understanding the composition of classrooms: in Education, women are the majority among students (74.54%) although their presence decreases as the academic level advances, representing only 39.64% in the professorship. In general, in fields related to Social Sciences, they are the majority: in Sociology they represent 64.29%, 61.1% in Law, and 59.35% in Journalism and Communication.
According to its promoters, the CYD ranking allows each user to create a personalized ranking, selecting and comparing the aspects they want to know, making a list by universities (institutional ranking) or segmented by fields of knowledge (ranking by field) and selecting the autonomous community where they want to study.
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